Inquisitions

You’ve got painful questions. Worse, you’ve got a persistent way of asking. With Inquisitions on the Gothic Dispatch, I’ll say just about anything to make you stop. Here, join me in separating the truth from the rumours to answer some of the biggest questions about Gothic art, literature and beyond. Together, we’ll uncover the origins of the most well-known Gothic tropes – no matter how much it hurts. And in the likely case that your inquiries only raise more questions, I’ll be recommending further reading along the way.

These are Inquisitions, longer essays on even longer-standing Gothic conceits.

A young woman is sitting in a chair reading a story which has made her nervous. Source: Wellcome Images

I Waked One Morning From a Dream: What Is Gothic Literature?

Posted on by The Gothic Dispatch

There have been many nights when I’ve laid awake wondering: What makes a book Gothic? Who decides what is and isn’t Gothic fiction? And why, why, why do I keep reading them?

It’s time to reveal the truth about Gothic literature. Together, we’ll unravel the fragments, falsehoods and frame narratives to separate fact from fiction. Interrogate Gothic literature’s most renowned writers – including Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe and Matthew Lewis. And find out why this obscure, 200-year-old genre is still haunting us today.

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